Prisoners that Bend
by JesusisAlive2033
Summary: When some Ambassadors from the Eastern Colonies visit Republic City after Amon's attack, Korra is thrilled. Not only do they bring tales from afar, but they are some of the best benders in the world. What Korra learns, however, is that these people are more dangerous than they seem. Coming over from what is an island prison, these people have darker secrets then she could imagine.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own it.

"Korra!"

"OW!"

Korra's hand quickly flew to her head. Korra had been meditating when Tenzin had called her, and she had hit her head on the branch above her.

"Korra!"

"I'm coming, Tenzin!"

Quickly, the girl jumped to her feet, ignoring the pulsing feeling on her forehead, and used her airbending to rush to her destination. She found a very distraught Tenzin near the dock.

"Hey, Tenzin. Whatcha need?"

Tenzin looked at her frantically. "Korra, thank goodness. I told you about the ambassadors from the fire colonies in the far east were going to pay us a visit, right? Well, apparently their coming today!"

Korra stared at her mentor, completely confused. "Ok, so why are you worried?"

Tenzin glared at her like she was an idiot, but she wasnt sure why. "Because, Korra. After the equalists decided to destroy most of the city, the usual place for ambassadors to stay was destroyed. The council couldn't find a suitable place for them to stay, so they are staying here. What's more is that the colonies found out that we had to rebuild, so instead of sending some actual ambassadors, they are sending they're best bender team to help us rebuild."

Korra's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Why would that be a bad thing? Not only are they going to help rebuild, but they can help me continue training."

Tenzin shook his head. "Korra, when we say someone is the best bender in the world, we exclude the people from those colonies. These people are so good, it's rumored that a particular pair could've wiped the floor with Avatar Aang. They even have some airbenders that somehow, their ancestors survived the seige of the air temple. I fear we may unimpress them." 

Korra had awe written all over her face. People better then the previous Avatar? This must be her early birthday!

"When will they get here?" She asked in anticipation.

Suddenly, a loud ship horn blew from the distance.

Tenzin gulped. "Now, apparently."

Tenzin and Korra raced to the dock, and arrived just in time to see a small group of people getting off of a large ship. Each individually bowed and gave thanks to the ship's captain and crew, and proceded to Tenzin.

A large and burly man walked up to him first with what looked like a younger version of himself.

"Hi! You must be Tenzin." The man said, holding out his hand.

"Yes, and you must be the ambassadors from the Eastern Colonies."

The man smiled as Tenzin shook his hand. "That would be correct. I'm Clark, your earthbending specialist, and this here is Conner, my apprentice."

Conner just looked at them uneasily, not seeming sure what to say. Clark just laughed. "He's a bit on the shy side, but he'll come around. Enough of my blabberin, though. I'll let the other's introduce themselves."

The next people who came up were quite strange. They seemed to be Air monks, but the young girl had the brightest red hair Korra had ever seen.

"Greetings, fellow airbender," the large monk said." I am J'onn, the airbending specialist from the Eastern Colonies. It is an honor to finally meet one such as myself and my niece."

The red head came up to Tenzin and bowed with respect. "Hi! I am Me'gann, J'onn's apprentice."

Tenzin smiled, and bowed at the pair. "We will have much to discuss later."

The next two were also fairly strange. One had golden hair and was quite tan, while the other had dark skin and yellow hair like what Korra assumed was his mentor.

"Hello, you must be Tenzin. I am Arthur, your Eastern Colonies water bending specialist. This is Kaldur, my apprentice."

Kaldur just bowed and said nothing, while Arthur observed his surroundings, seemingly pleased that he was on an island that was basically surrounded by water.

The next group seemed disoriented, both had bright red hair and were obviously of Fire Nation origin. The taller of the two came up to Tenzin with a smile on his face. "Hiya! You must be Tenzin! I really love your home, it seems quite impressive. Look at the detail of the paint on the- Oh, sorry, I seem to be rambling on again. I am Barry, your firebending specialist. The kid standing behind me is my apprentice, Wally."

The other red head seemed a bit bored, but had noticed that his teacher had called his name. "Oh, hi!"

Korra sighed in relief, believing that they were the last people to be introduced, but there still seemed to be two groups left. This confused her, as she had assumed that she had seen the professional benders of all the elements, so what could these people be?

Clark stepped up again, seeing as both Kora and Tenzin seemed confused.

"These two groups represent our specialist bending teams. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves?"

The group that looked to be made up of archers stepped up. A taller blonde with a beard to boot stepped up to greet the airbending master. "Hi, my name's Oliver, and I am your resident trick shot bender. These are my apprentices, Roy and Artemis."

Both Tenzin and Korra looked at the trio in confusion, and Oliver got the feeling that they didn't know what a trick shot bender was.

Oliver sweat dropped. "I am assuming you don't know what trick shot bending is?" The two shook their heads. "Well, we use special materials to enhance our bending. We use all manner of things, such as bolos, throwing stars, and, of course, our bows and arrows. Trick shot benders use firebending. Does that make sense?"

Tenzin and Korra looked somewhat enlightened, so Oliver decided to drop it and move on.

The last group to be introduced scared Korra a bit. They gave off an aura of power, so strong she was sure Tenzin could feel it, too. They were both quite pale, and had deep black hair and bright, if not icy, blue eyes.

"Hello, Master Tenzin. I am Bruce, a specialist in moon bending. This is my apprentice, Dick."

Tenzin's eyes grew wide, and Korra was pretty sure her mouth hit the floor. Moon bending was very dangerous to try, but if successful, could give you much power. It was something only waterbenders could do. This was when an expert water bender used the moon's rays, and used it's power to do extraordinary things, depending on the person. If used in a full moon, it could give the user Avatar like powers and control the four elements, but the number of times it had been recorded to happen was twice.

They were shaken out of their trance by the young apprentice.

"Thank you for allowing us in your home, master Tenzin." The pale boy, Dick, bowed.

"Of course, young man. My pleasure. Now please let me show you to your rooms."

Korra just stared at the strange group of people, and shook her head. This would be an interesting couple of weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own it.

After the group had been shown their rooms, Korra decided to take a quick trip to Republic City. She didn't have a boat, but she was a waterbender. Korra walked down to the docks, happy to get away from the strange group of ambassadors. Something didn't seem right about them.

She arrived at the shore, taking in the salty breeze and the beautiful sight of Republic City. The lights shone brightly even in the middle of the day, and the buildings looked so perfect someone couldn't imagine that rebuilding from a nasty attack was going on right now.

"Whatcha doin?"

The voice startled her, and she quickly found the apprentices away from their teachers. There was the firebender, the two trickshot benders, the airbender, the water bender, the earthbender, and the moon bender.

"I hate to be rude," Korra began, glaring at them for sneaking up on her," but I do not see how this pertains to any of your business."

"Relax, Avatar Korra," Wally chuckled," We're just on our way to Republic City, and we heard you were as well. We just wanted to know if you would give us a quick tour before you went off on whatever business you were going to have there."

Korra sighed. On one hand, she didn't trust these people, so in turn, she didn't want to give them a tour, and she already had plans. On the other hand, however, it would be extremely rude to reject the request of a guest, particularly these guests.

Korra, seeing no way out of this, sighed. "Alright, I guess I can give you a tour of our great city." She quickly froze up some water for them to use as a boat, and they all got on.

She was really hoping she wouldn't regret taking them.

"Well, this isn't good."

Korra facepalmed. Of course this would happen to her. After she had taken them to the councilmen's building, and Main Street, she decided to give them a quick glance at Dark Alley, the highest crime rate district in all of Republic City. Just to spite her, though, they got jumped by a bunch of street benders.

The leader street bender, an earthbender, grinned broadly. "The Avatar and the ambassadors, what a lucky day for me. You'll all catch a pretty hefty ransom."

Korra groaned. There was one of her, and she was guessing that even though the group had good benders in it, they weren't good enough to take out all of these street benders, considering there were more surrounding her at the moment then she had seen in her entire life.

Suddenly, though, Artemis decided to step up. "Your kidding, right? You think that we, a group of trained benders, are just going to be taken by you idiots? Think again bozo."

The group took fighting stances, and Korra hoped that these people were at least decent enough so she could call the cheif of police.

What she hoped for and what she got were two completely different things.

Quickly, the trickshot benders took out a group of ten street benders. The firebender took out five, the airbender seven, the earthbender eight, and the waterbender nine. She was in complete awe, and the street benders were in complete terror. They started to retreat when she noticed the moonbending boy just standing there.

"Uhh, hate to break it to you kid," Korra yelled at him," but it would be nice if you'd help a bit."

The pale child flashed a white smile at the girl, sending shivers down her spine. "My waterbending may be a bit harsh for these ruffians. I prefer not to hurt them to much."

Korra was enraged. "So your to good for his fight!? Let me tell you somethin, kid! The-"

Kaldur stepped in. "Korra, please. It is true what Dick said. He and his mentor are especially dangerous and powerful waterbenders, even more so then Arthur and I. They were raised in unfavorable conditions, and the techniques they use with their waterbending could prove deadly if not challenged by a master waterbender."

Korra just glared at him, but said nothing else. She made a note to watch The moonbenders train later. She decided it was getting a bit late, and it was about time for a probending exibition match to start, and probending sign ups were today. She decided that the arena would be where they end their tour, so she could sign up for probending and see her friends.

"Alright, everyone. This way."

Korra was extremely happy. Right once she got to the arena, she proceded to get into her Fire Ferret outfit, and get ready for her exhibition round. She would be going against a new team, the Black Panthers. She had vaguely wondered what happened to the ambassadors, but quickly shook it off and started her match. It was a relatively easy win, so that meant that they were in the league for the beginner's tournament.

She sat down in the players box, ready for the next match, when someone came running in. It was Me'gann. Korra sighed, until she saw the look of worry on the girls face.

"What's wrong, Me'gann?"

The redhead looked extremely distraught. "The boys decided to make a probending team!"

Korra looked to her with confusion. "So? It seems that rebuilding will take a while, so you should be here to finish the season. I don't see what your worried about."

The girl looked extremely panicked. "Well, Dick's on it! Wally and Roy somehow talked him into it! Conner, Roy, and Dick are set to go on any second! You have to stop them!"

Korra wondered why that was such a big deal, when she remembered the fight in the alleyway, and what Kaldur said. Her eyes grew wide. Then, the match bell rang.

"This is not good."


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own it.

"And the benders are off!"

Korra watched as the boys came out onto the field, and Dick did look slightly nervous. The other ambassador children stood there with held breaths.

"Well, folks, it seems as if we have the Black Bats, and the Yellow Polarwolves. This is going to get interesting!"

The match began, and Conner started the Black Bats off. He got a few earth disks into the air, and slammed it into the opposing team's water bender. The waterbender didn't know what hit him, and was instantly thrown off the court.

"Ohh, and one hit from Conner and the bender is out."

The other team's firebender seemed agitated, and threw the largest ball of fire that Korra had ever seen. Roy, looking as cocky as ever, flipped and sent the fire hurtling at the other team's earth bender. The opposite end of the fire ball didn't see it coming. He was struck out.

"And there goes Okinawa, straight off the board! The Yellow Polarwolves have one player left." 

Conner and Roy stood back, and watched Dick with pleasure. Everyone watched the water bender, and the smaller boy looked quite nervous. He took a breath, closed his eyes, and something amazing happened.

Small, crystaline bats started to fly around the small boy. The firebender on the opposing side tried to hit them, but there were to many of them. The small bats circled the young boy, and as soon as Dick opened his eyes, the bats charged toward the scared firebender. The small bats dragged the firebender off of the arena.

The crowd gasped as Dick let the breath out and collapsed into Roy and Conner's arms. The announcer took advantage of the silence. "And the Black Bats win the beginner's round!"

The three boys went into the player's box, Dick walking slowly with the support of the two others. As soon as he got in, they sat him down on the couch, and the rest of the apprentices gathered around him, except for Roy, who went and sat by Korra, Mako, and Bolin, who were all completely speechless. Korra whispered in Roy's ear," So bending takes that much out of him, huh? With that much power, I'm not surprised."

Roy looked at her strangely, and laughed. "That was nothing," Korra gave her a strange look. "He's tired cause it's hard for him to contain all of his power, and if you really want to see something scary, you should see his mentor." 

No one said a word after that.

As soon as Dick was rested up, Korra formally introduced Bolin and Mako to the benders.

Bolin seemed to really like them, and made quick friends with Wally and Me'gann. They were all soon talking about his probending and why he chose the name Fire Ferrets.

Mako and Conner were two peas in the same pod, and Mako was very interested in how Dick could have so much training at such a young age.

Korra and Artemis could be something of friendly rivals, speaking of heroics that both had done within the last few days. Kaldur quietly listened to the two, making corrections in Artemis's stories, and listening in awe of Korra's.

Finally, Bolin piped up a favorable suggestion. "Anyone hungry?"

Suggestions were quickly made.

"I'm hungry for some noodles." 

"Sushi seems attiquite."

"How about some hibachi?"

"How about not."

The kids looked to the interuppting voice, and grinned sheepishly. There stood Tenzin, Bruce, Oliver, and Councilman Tarlok.

Oliver was the first to speak. "Where have you been?! You were supposed to be back at the temple an hour ago!"

Tenzin glared at Korra. "You had a time limit Korra, and you disregarded it...AGAIN."

Councilman Tarlok's criticism came next. "It is not really befitting for a bunch of Ambassador children to be running around the city, is it?"

Bruce was the last to speak. "You all have responsibilities, and those come before fun." He seemed to glare at Dick especially.

Korra opened her mouth to give a comeback, but one extremely cold glare from our favorite ambassador silenced her.

The group trudged back to the boat, ashamed and extremely hungry.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own it. By the way, in this fic we are pretending that we don't know that Tarlok is a bloodbender yet, or that he was related to Amon.

The next day was a bit hard for Korra. Tenzin had her doing so many tough exercises, that she thought she might keel over. Once he finally let her go, he asked her to go to the dining room for an important meeting with the ambassadors. Though Korra loathed meetings, she went anyway.

The room was packed, with her, Tenzin, and the 6 ambassadors. Everyone in the room had extremely serious faces, and Korra was pretty sure they were all gazing at her.

As soon as she sat down, Barry's voice rang out. "Your probably wondering what we called you here for, aren't you?"

She nodded, a bit afraid to speak.

Clark stood up. "Avatar Korra, we come together to ask you a favor. To understand this favor, though, you must understand a bit about each of us and where we come from. Although you may find this confusing at first, you will understand it all by the end. I will start, but be forewarned, our stories are not pleasent." 

Korra looked at the man strangely, but continued to listen. "You see, long ago the Eastern Colonies were not meant to be a place where the Fire Nation could expand and live in peace. It was actually a place where they would send convicts and benders to dangerous for normal society. One such bender sent there was Azula, the evil sister of Fire Lord Zuko. That should give you a hint about what it was like." 

Korra gulped. Azula was something from her nightmares, and she had heard horror stories of her in the South Pole.

"It continued that way for many years, so it was somewhat like a prison. Only recently have the world governments seen what it has become, and have tried to help it along. This is actually the Eastern Colonies first ambassadorship. You see, all of us at one point were imprisoned in the Eastern Colonies, and most of us just because we are and I's story of how we got there is a bit...unerving."

Korra and the others breathed out, ready to hear the story from Clark.

"You see, Conner and I were on an earth kingdom farm with my adoptive mother and father. Conner had come from an illegal mining camp that was using child labor. I had just been thrown in their field when I was young. Conner was extremely young when we were taken, about ten or so. I was sixteen. We were taken because a group of theives had tried to take the small village we were in over, and we had stopped them by ourselves. The local government sent us off to the compound because we were labeled too dangerous. We were there the third longest."

Korra gaped at the poor man. Thrown into a field, had a younger brother that was used as child labor, and taken from your home just because you did something right.

Clark sat down, and Barry stood up. "I guess I should go next. I used to live on a small Fire Nation island with a good friend of mine, Iris. We were young, fifteen or sixteen at the most, and we had pretty shoddy jobs. I was working on a fishing boat, and Iris was helping out at the local inn. The inn was where we met Wally, the poor kid. He was some politician's runner boy, and was living in absolute misery. The kid's paycheck was barely enough to cover his needs. Iris and I put our money together, and bought his contract. Unfortunately, that purchase, though definitely worth it, put us way below our budget. I ended up having to go into the underground (and illegal) bender's dueling arena. I was extremely good, and I even brought Wally along so we could enter together. The kid was amazing. Soon, the stakes became higher, and we had to adapt. We eventually learned how to use lightening. That was when we were turned in to the authorities. That's why we got stuck in the eastern colonies, but at least we left Iris with enough money to get by. We were there the third shortest."

Korra was extremely angry. Even though Barry and Wally had been commiting a crime, they didn't deserve to be sent off to an island of convicts!

Arthur stood up next. "Kaldur and I used to be fisherman, off the eastern coast of the earth kingdom. I had helped Kaldur gain a new life after his father became a convict on the run, and his mother had died. Doing so made my family a constant target of public inspection, but we didn't mind if it was for Kaldur. It was strange to have to be watched so often, but we got by. Unfortunately, times got tough. The fish left the area, and we were in a sudden cold snap in the middle of winter. The locals blamed us because Kaldur and I were the only waterbenders within miles. Through a simple misunderstanding like that, we were thrown into the Eastern Colonies. We were there the shortest amount of time out of all of our group."

Korra and Tenzin were surprised. The eastern coast of the Earth Kingdom was naturally chilly and, for some strange reason, they had awkward weather changes often. They should know the strange weather was unpredictable.

J'onn decided to follow up there story. "Me'gann and I are ancestors of the airbenders. Our kind found refuge on a small island made up of none benders. Though we were quite peacful, as soon as the equalists came to the island, they tried to burn us alive. We fought them off for months, but they captured us by a stroke of luck. That is when they sent us to the Eastern Colonies quite a few years ago. We were there the second shortest."

J'onn's story reminded her of what had happened to Republic City just a few weeks ago.

Oliver was next. "I used to be a street rat in Ba Sing Sei. I was sixteen when I found Roy. He was about eight years old. He had been neglected by a richer family, and became their paid labor after his father died. The rich family had custody of the boy, and treated him like dirt. He ran away from them and stayed with me. About three months later, Artemis found me, since her father and sister were convicts, and her mother was handicapped, and she was about five at the time. We were all good fire benders, but I was the only one to go into the underground ring. I admit, I had to cheat, using weapons and such, so when I got caught, Artemis and Roy tried to save me. We all ended up on the next ship to the Eastern Colonies. We were there the second longest."

Korra was furious. They sent a bunch of kids to what could be called the convict islands. What is wrong with these authorities?

Bruce was the last one to stand, albeit reluctantly. Clark nodded him, and he looked directly at Korra, seemingly to brace her for whatever it is he had to say.

"She won't like it."

Clark nodded, and looked to Korra. "Out of all of our stories, Bruce's is the worst. I warn you now, he did many things he is not proud of. Think for a second, and tell us if you would like him to share."

Korra did think, and whatever Bruce's story was, she was sure she could handle it. She nodded, and Bruce sighed.

"I was six the night some idiot firebender took my parent's lives. He had demanded our money and belongings. It was a shady part of the Northern Water Tribe, and it was late at night. We were in a dark alleyway, and he had killed off my parents quickly, ready to take their belongings and get out of there. He was about to get me when..."

Bruce hid his face in shame, seemingly afraid to tell her. Clark urged him on.

"I...I was young and afraid and angry. What I did next was unspeakable. I was an extremely gifted waterbender for a six year old, and with all of my emotions, I didn't even think. It was even a new moon. I shouldn't of been able to, but..."

Korra looked at him, afraid that she knew what he would say next.

"I bloodbended," Bruce looked angry with himself, like he hadn't forgiven himself for that mistake all those years ago. "I was angry, and I...I made him feel all of my anger. By the time the cops got to me, he had a broken leg, collar bone, and wrist, not to mention mininal cuts. The guard had to use all of their energy just to calm me down. They quickly decided I was too dangerous, and sent me off to the Eastern Colonies."

He paused, waiting for the ok to go on.

"I arrived two weeks after the incident. All of the hardened criminals on the ship made fun of me, calling me things I hope never grace your ears, Avatar. They almost did the unspeakable, and I did it again. In my little six year old mind, I believed that the only way out of this was my dark talent. By the time we got to the island, I was called the Blood Child. Soon the island learned to respect me, the young boy who could do unspeakable things. After being there for a few months, I was blessed... and cursed... with a mentor. His name was Ra's. Ra's was arrested for illegal moonbending, and I learned everything from him. A few years after I got to the island, I was a moon and blood bender. When I was twelve, a four year old Dick came to the island by mistake. His parents and he had gotten on the wrong boats, and they were unluckily caught in a boat crash. Dick was young, and I saw a lot of myself in him. Ra's saw promise and we trained him together. Soon, Ra's escaped, leaving me and Dick on the island. We continued to moon bend, and I promised to stop bloodbending so not to scare Dick. We were there the longest."

Korra was wondering whether to be disgusted or sad. On one hand, the man was a blood bender like Amon, and could probably take away someone's bending. On the other hand, it was his only option, considering he was six when he was thrown into prison.

Tenzin looked to Korra, wondering her consensus on the stories she had just heard. After a time of thought, she stood. "I understand you have all had a rough life, and I respect what you have been through. I hope that you do not bring your problems here to Republic City, however. That is all that I need to say."

Tenzin looked at the girl with praise, happy that she had said something wise.

Clark stood, happy to finally finish this story time. "Well, I am glad you are so accepting, Avatar Korra. Now that you know these things, I would like to thank you on behalf of all of us that you showed our apprentices a good time. I haven't seen them so happy in a long time."

Korra, though surprised by the appreciation, smiled and bowed. They all filed out, except for Korra and Bruce. Bruce, though not seemingly happy about sharing his experience, bowed to the girl. "I am greatful for you listening to my experience, Avatar..."

The man looked up to the girl with ice in his eyes. "But understand this. I do not want you to use this against us in any way. I like you girl, but if you cause harm to my group, or especially Dick..." 

"I will show you what moonbending really is."


End file.
